There was another Reunion Row on the afternoon of Saturday 27th September preceding the the dinner for alumni from 1985, 86, 87 and 88. The participants are working on a report of the proceedings, meanwhile, here are some photos.
May Bumps
M1 went up 1, bumping Hughes Hall , remaining in the 1st division. M2 had a bad time, going down 4 in the Men’s 3rd division, while M3 did well, going up 3 having started as head of the men’s 5th division.
W1 were flat, bumping Magdelene on the first day but being caught by an oar winning Homerton on the last day. W2 went up 1, bumping LMBC3.
The Billygoats Osier Holt party could not have been more different from last year’s wet occasion, with the sun beating down and free water distributed to keep everyone hydrated.
The May Bumps supper was an excellent occasion, despite some shortage of wine.
Our President David Wright announced the John Adams Prizes.
The John Adams Fund was established in 2012 to recognise John Adams’ fifty years of service to the Billygoats Society and Fitzwilliam College rowing and supports both Bursaries to cover costs of rowing related activities for Fitzwilliam students and also one or more John Adams Prizes may be awarded annually to student members of the College who have done most to promote the wellbeing and success of the Boat Club.
The Billygoats are pleased to award John Adam’s prizes of £110 each, following some superb nominations we have four winners this year.
Firstly Pok-Man Ho has been at the club for the past 5 years, and is now finishing his PHD. Predominantly he’s a cox, but he’s rowed when needed, currently rowing in M2 and the M1 cox, he’s coxed every boat this term, he’s subbed in W1, W2, M1 as a rower when needed. Indeed one Saturday, he coxed M1, then coxed W1 & then rowed in M2 over a 6 hour period. A stalwart and doer and we hope too he will be around in the autumn to assist with coaching the novices.
Next Erin Price has been an amazing member of the club, her commitment to keeping W2 outings going even when numbers were scarce is a testament to her personal resilience and leadership skills. She has also often been moved between crews and has reacted to it positively and continued to give her all regardless.
And Oliver Fitzgerald has done an excellent job captaining the men’s side on his own, and has remained positive, resourceful, and resilient throughout this year. It has been a tough year for both sides in terms of numbers, bumps results and getting full crews out, however Oli has made sure both M1 and M2 are as competitive as possible, going beyond to enter a successful 4+ into Poplar Regatta in May, and planning to enter a 4+ into Henley Qualifiers.
And last but not least, Aurora Barrera James stepped up to the role of Captain of Boats at the last minute and has really made sure everything ran as smoothly as possible in the Boat Club. It has been a difficult year with coaching arrangements but she has done everything in her power to make sure that we got the coaching we needed and was instrumental in arranging the training camps amongst many other things. She never stepped back and has continued to give us all the support we could wish for.
The Henley Picnic was another triumph for Carole.
Thanks to Tony Moule, David Wright and Richard Hooke for the photos.
Thanks to all who helped with the events, especially Carole Burton Wright who has established the Billygoats Henley Picnic as an essential part of anyone’s HRR week.
Training Camp
As well as boat and equipment purchases the Billygoats Society also supports coaching and training camps and it has become a tradition to have an Easter Training camp. This year it was at Norwich rowing Club. Here is a report from Boat Club secretary Megan Tubb.
The Norwich training camp had 29 members of the club attending, meaning we were able to get up to three VIII+ boats out on one of the days. With hundreds of hours of training logged in the club over the Easter holidays, everyone came along prepared and determined to give their all. The brilliant stretch of river gave everyone the chance to progress their rowing and coxing, providing an enjoyable weekend for everyone there. Despite the tiredness by the end, everyone came away smiling.
Across the camp, we were able to get many different crews out, in both VIII+s and smaller boats too, giving everyone the opportunity to row with crews they haven’t before, which was a wonderful chance for everyone to learn from each other. Throughout the camp we had some very technical outings, a key focus being working on good connection with the water followed by a powerful leg drive. Backing down the boat before taking a stroke has become a new favourite drill of ours. We also put this into practice in some more intense pieces, with a particularly exciting session on day 2 where we sent out 3 mixed 8+’s to have a side-by-side battle paddle! We also had lots of opportunity to trial crews going into the term, so we are ready to jump straight back into our training on the Cam.
On the women’s side, we were down a couple of rowers due to the University Development Squad, but with 11 rowers over the 3 days we were able to consistently send out a women’s VIII+, as well as sending out some women’s IVs. With thanks to the training camp, we are looking to have 2 very strong women’s crews this term. On the men’s side we were also able to consistently send out a men’s VIII+. As well as this, two of the men’s side rowers got the chance to practice in their singles in preparation for the Small Boats Regatta. Particularly on the men’s side, the camp was a brilliant opportunity to trial different VIII+’s in preparation for the term ahead.
With thanks to this camp, we are looking to have extremely promising Bumps campaigns this term on both sides of the club. Most importantly, the camp has given us the time to continue to build on the team spirit at FCBC. We had incredible help from our coaches Tony and Andrew, and we would like to extend a massive thank you to Billygoats Nick Francis and Robert Doe for all their helpful feedback and support across the camp. The camp has been an incredibly valuable experience for all our rowers and coxes, and we look forward to keeping up the hard work and training during Easter Term. Everyone at FCBC would like to say a massive thank you to the Billygoats for making this camp possible, we could not be more grateful your continuous support.
John Adams Fund supports Fitz women in the development squad
The John Adams Fund was established in 2012 in honour of John Adams, who, in his incredible 50 years as Secretary of the Society, made it what it is today. Among other things, the fund supports university rowers and triallists and this year we were able to support three Fitz women – Amelie Teferle, Katarina Finney and Vaila Smith – who were selected to participate in the CUBC Women’s Development Squad. After a two week training camp in Ely an 8+ and spare pair were selected and the 8+ competed in the BUCS regatta in early May. The development 8+ (with Vaila and Katerina at 7 and 6) won the D final.
Amelie said: Thanks for your support to help me do dev squad it was much appreciated. I learned to foot steer, row in a pair and got to go to BUCS.
It’s great that we had 3 women in the 10-strong development squad and we wish all three the best of luck in trials next year.
Thanks to Amelie for the photos.
On April 5th 2025 a couple of alumni crews went out for a morning paddle to build up an appetite for the Reunion Dinner on April 5th 2025 for 1995-98 matriculants.
Here are some photos of the crews.
A number of Billygoats attended a memorial service for Ken Drake in Cambridge last month. We heard from his family and friends of his long life of service to the scouts and the Wesleyan church and also to Cantabrigian Rowing Club (of which he wrote a history). Of course, Billygoats will be aware of his support for FHBC as successful rower and officer in the 50s, for FCBC pushing out bumps crews from the 90s until several years ago and his archiving work which appears on the Billygoats website.
There was a table of memorabilia of Ken’s life to which was added the flag he and his wife Viv donated to the Boat Club on his retirement from pushing out. Ken wrote his own life story which appears on the Ken Drake Archive page of the website under “something about the author”.
Two alumni crews graced the Fairbairn Cup this year, with a third (2010 women) sadly having to pull out at the last minute.
The Presidents VIII, though missing the current President, did boast a past President and a future President. Carole Burton Wright (President 2015-18) coxed, with David Wright (elected President Dec 2024) at stroke. Ian Clarke (President 2021-24) was going to join us to race in the Winter Head on Saturday 7th but that was cancelled due to the weather.
The perennial fear that someone would oversleep our traditional dawn practice outing proved unfounded (as always) and we had a paddle down to the bottom of the river to look at the race finish. We managed to find a decent rhythm, though there was some doubt about whether the race rating should start with a 3 or a 2. In the end we settled for a respectable 28 and got back to the boathouse in good time for some of the crew to rush back to their hotel for a quick breakfast.
Crew – Carole Burton, David Wright, Neil Gardner, Clive Woodman, Tom Watt, Dan George, Andrew Goulden, John Roberts, David Birtwhistle
Suitably refreshed we re-convened ready to slot in at position 255. We were a bit concerned to see an Oxford College crew behind us but luckily they left a large gap and, in the end, did not overtake us until grassy corner. Carole’s shouts of “you’re making them angry because they can’t pass you” drove us on (and hopefully upset them!) and in the end we finished in a creditable 17:42.7, beating 7 crews and a mere 4:07.2 behind the University crew that won it.
This was a G crew and it would have been interesting to race in the Winter Head against opposition of the same age but sadly it was not to be. Thanks to Ian Clarke, Piers Copham and Tom Swallow who were ready to step in for those who could not stay for the Saturday.
The Billygoats AGM and Dinner took place on Saturday 7th and a good time was had by all.
FCBC 1990s & 2020s
The idea of getting a 1990s Billygoats crew out for the Fairbairns arose a few months ago when Pete, Dom, and Rob (and a few other non-rowers from the 1990s) met up in London for a drink. Eventually, in September this started to become a reality as more 1990s Billygoats were recruited. Unfortunately, not quite a full boat was recruited, however there was also a 2020s Billygoats crew forming with a similar problem. So the two merged, and a boat (with a spare) was formed a few weeks before the race.
The evening before, some of us met up for a curry to begin fuelling up for the race. Rob (our cox) was called into work at the last moment, so would have to drop out. With lightning reaction speed, Aurora Barrera James (FCBC Captain of Boats) is able to recruit a replacement for Rob. Our pre-race preparation of a couple of drinks and curry done, we retire for the evening.
The crew meets up on race day for a 7am rig check and pre-race paddle. Aurora coxes this early morning row, and her excellent cox-seat coaching helped gel the crew into a smooth unit. The paddle goes well, we end up rowing all the way down to Baitsbite and with the builds and bursts we put in, it’s like we’ve never been away. After the paddle, many of us head over to Tishka’s café nearby for a welcome breakfast.
Come race time, we are placed towards the end of Division 2. We boat in Jonathan Price II with race cox Megan Tubb (current FCBC member). We set off with a strong (if a little rocky) start, and settle into a good pace. Drama then unfolds at the Gasworks where we catch up with a Crustaceans’ crew (Christ’s alumni). Oars clashed, words were exchanged (mainly coming from the Crustaceans), and then we followed them slowly just past the Green Dragon bridge where we could cleanly overtake. The remainder of the row was gutsy, and the finish was welcome!
The result: Officially, due to attempting to overtake before the Green Dragon bridge, we were Disqualified! The unofficial result was 16:42 (including ‘stoppage’ time), and even less official was our subjective estimate that the stoppage cost us at least 40 seconds. Ofcourse, the main result is that we enjoyed getting back into a Fitz boat, rowing the old course. We’ll be back, and next time will make sure there’s a larger gap in front before we set off.
Crew line up:
B: Mark Taylor (1990), 2: Jonathan Kerl (2020), 3: Peter Matthews (1991), 4: Babak Eftekhari (1990), 5: Clark Cossin (2022), 6: Peter Maynes (2011), 7: Dom Adair (1991), Str: Neil McCulloch (1990), Cox: Megan Tubb (sub for Rob Clemmitt (1991)), Spare: Gautham Venu (2014)
Simon Cole (1978) writes:
2024 marked the 15th year in which a Billygoats crew has taken part in the Rhine Marathon with a break only during lockdown.
The crew was similar in makeup to the previous year with Clive Woodman (1977), Neil Gardner (1977), our master analogist Roly Beevor (1977) (“imagine you are pushing back against a barn door” being the theme for 2024) and Simon Cole. Once again, we were expertly steered and corralled by our very own Billygoat on the Rhine, Wolfgang Wacke.
The conditions for the race could hardly have been better with clear, bright weather, what little wind there was blowing from the optimum quarter and a raging stream. Our boat this year was built more for comfort than for speed, the only slight speed-limiting factor.
We sculled steadily through the race. As always on the Rhine, a particular challenge is maintaining effective technique through the wash created by the commercial traffic on the river and in bouncy conditions our boat Albatros sometimes behaved more like a bucking bronco.
We were pleased with our finishing time of 2h 27m 30s for the 42 kilometre course which placed us 6th out of 8 in our Masters G group, 10th out of the 21 overseas crews taking part and 120th out of the total of 164 crews.
We had held our traditional training weekend per year in Cambridge shortly before the race. We were very grateful to Tony Moule for making the Adrian Tollett available to us for the weekend (a touching reminder for those of who had rowed with Adrian in the previous Fairbairns) and to Pok-man Ho for coxing us on a River Cam teeming with other users.”
Neil added:
And of further note, this year’s stern three were the same as sat in the 1980 May’s 1st Boat!
Billy Beef!
If only we had a photo!
1984 & more – Sat 2pm
Over the Reunion weekend of Sept 28/29 2024, an ecletic (electric?) mix of half an eight of 1984, two current/recent students, Sally (1979) and Glen (1962, all the way from Canada!), met at the stunning boathouse. It was the most glorious of Autumn days – the sun shines on the righteous?
The run up to the outing was taken seriously, with John putting in daily sessions on the ergo in his bedroom, Richard completing a punishing series of early morning runs (culminating in the Ealing half marathon the day after our outing), Graeme cycling up the Tourmalet for some high-altitude training, and Martin doubling up on his on-line Pilates. On the day, Carole Burton (1984), cox, briefed the crew and under her watch we gingerly manoeuvred the shell (we loved the sliders out of the rack) onto the water and in the necessary wellies popped her in the water. Unfortunately, Sally also popped into the water as the Cam was over the bank from recent floods and she forget to seek out the edge in her wellies. Sadly, we don’t have a photo. Graeme ambitiously applied copious tape to his hands, whilst many of us marvelled at the lightness of the blades and the comfort of the handles.
Under the watchful eye of adopted coach for the day, Ian Clarke (1984), the crew paddled upstream and conducted the first of our two turns. From there, with graduate student Rob stroking, the crew had a glorious row down back past the boathouse supporters, downstream to just short of the Plough. Carole and Ian’s measured and nicely put coaching was marvelous, and there were a few nirvanic pieces where the boat glided along.
On the return, we undertook one piece of ‘work’, but in the main Rob kept us focused on slow and smooth rating under 20, as Sally dried out slowly at Bow. The river, of course, had been developed since our day, particularly on the Chesterton bank. It seemed more magical than all those years ago. Glen explained that the secret to his long sporting career has been a daily open water swim in his local lake, so that’s something we need to consider in the run up to our next outing in 2034.
Glen said: I am still exhilarated by this row – 60 years on!! Heavy wooden oars and clinker boats have been replaced by featherweight oars, and boats that even seniors can toss up over their head. It took a long time to get the rhythm back, but the younger members of the boat were very patient!! Let’s do it again!
Str Rob (current student)
7 Richard Hooke (1984)
6 Kes (just graduated)
5 John Driscoll (1984)
4 Graeme Purdy (1984)
3 Glen Norcliffe (1962)
2 Martin Caldwell (1984)
Bow Sally Howes (1979)
Cox Carole Burton (1984)
The group owe their thanks to all who made this happen. This includes Carole, Dan, Ian, Tony and Melody at the Development Office.
2004 with a bit of 2014 – Sat 10.30am
On the morning after their reunion dinner on Friday evening the 2004 and 2014 vintages combined for an outing.
Helen writes:
As much as visits to watch bumps are wonderful for feeling back involved in the sport that took up so much of our lives at Fitzwilliam College, there is nothing quite comparable to being back in a boat ourselves; sat on the Cam with the familiar sounds of catches splashing and finishes clunking. The alumni of 2014 and 2004 had a blast coming together for our outing on Saturday morning. We were very fortunate that, for once, the sunshine joined us and aggressive swans did not. A few sat strokes, the calls of a cox who you’d think had only retired yesterday, and the reach to ourselves, gave us the perfect toe dipped back into the sport so dear to all our hearts and so greatly missed. It probably helped our enjoyment levels this outing was also a rare combination of not at 6am, nor in sub-zero temperatures, nor with overdue essays hanging over us. Thank you to all those who made it possible for us.
Cox Eleanor said “I hope we’d have had to pull blades in to avoid crashing rather less frequently if I had only retired yesterday!”
Crew list:
Eleanor Brown 2004
Helen Fishwick 2014
Megan Brook 2004
Alexandra Karavla-Webster 2004
Fiona Ball 2004
Sam Brown 2004
Maddy Iqbal 2004
Alexandra Lazou 2004
Thomas Franks-Moore 2014
Sam sent this vintage photo of the 2004 women’s novice crew, 5 of whom rowed at the reunion.
